Dozens dead and 1,000-year-old temples destroyed in 'unprecedented' South Korean fires
27 March 2025, 06:25 | Updated: 27 March 2025, 06:33
At least 26 people have been killed in record wildfires in South Korea, with tens of thousands forced to flee their homes and hundreds of buildings destroyed.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Thousands of personnel and dozens of helicopters were mobilised again on Thursday to battle the country's worst-ever blazes.
Korea Forest Service chief Lim Sang-seop said "a small amount" - less than 5 millimetres - of rain was expected in the area on Thursday, not enough to play a meaningful role in extinguishing the wildfires.
The fatalities include a pilot whose helicopter crashed during efforts to contain a fire and four firefighters and other workers who died after being trapped by fast-moving flames driven by strong winds.
Authorities have not disclosed details of the civilian dead, except that they are mostly in their 60s and 70s.
They suspect human error caused several of the wildfires that began last Friday, including cases where people started fires while clearing overgrown grass from family tombs or with sparks during welding work.
The wildfires have burned 35,810 hectares (88,488 acres) of land in the southeast, the government's disaster response centre said in a report Thursday.
Observers say that it is the worst figure of its kind in South Korea.
The report said the blazes have also injured nearly 30 people, destroyed about 320 buildings and structures and forced more than 24,200 people to evacuate.
As of Thursday morning, the centre said authorities were mobilising more than 9,000 people and about 120 helicopters to battle the wildfires.
"Damages are snowballing," acting president Han Duck-soo said in a televised address on Wednesday.
"There are concerns that we'll have wildfire damages that we've never experienced, so we have to concentrate all our capabilities on putting out the wildfires this week."
Hardest-hit areas are Andong city and neighbouring counties of Uiseong and Sancheong, and the city of Ulsan.
On Wednesday night, strong winds and smoke-filled skies forced authorities in the south-eastern city of Andong to order evacuations in two villages, including Puncheon, home to the Hahoe folk village - a Unesco World Heritage Site founded around the 14th-15th century.
Hikers were advised to leave the scenic Jiri Mountain as another fire spread closer.
Officials said earlier this week that firefighters had extinguished most of the flames from the largest wildfires in key areas, but wind and dry conditions allowed them to spread again.
Destroyed in the blazes were houses, factories, vehicles and some historic structures.
In Uiseong, about 20 of the 30 structures at the Gounsa temple complex, which was said to be originally built in the 7th century, have been burned. Among them were two state-designated "treasures" - a pavilion-shaped building erected overlooking a stream in 1668, and a Joseon dynasty structure built in 1904 to mark the longevity of a king.
Workers have been scrambling to rescue cultural artefacts from historic temples in the region.
The Korea Forest Service has raised its wildfire warning to the highest level, requiring local governments to assign more workers to emergency response, tighten entry restrictions for forests and parks, and recommend that military units withhold live-fire exercises.
